Csilla: Chapter 10~! :D

Glad no one was TOO depressed about Gray not kissing Natsu XD

Well the issue bothering me got resolved... stupid misunderstandings...

Anyways, enjoy~

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Natsu, as if on auto-pilot, did his job at his dad's bookstore; he couldn't explain it and a part of him hoped that maybe being back in his haven would help but so far: nothing. He always found himself walking over towards the relationship self-help books they had in-stock but every time he got too close: a customer would ask him for help. This process kept going until closing time; the same process kept him from noticing a familiar raven mob of hair, that he had woken up to, peering through the open slots in the bookshelves in the middle of the store. Finally, closing time arrived and the last customer was leaving; Natsu picked up the book he had been eyeing all day: Recognizing the Signs of True Love- For Dummies. He ignored the curious looks he was getting from his dad as he sat down and leafed through the contents of the paperback book.

"...willing to go somewhere you hate..." Yesterday's hospital visit popped in his head; Natsu's grip on the book tightened: he hadn't stepped foot into a hospital since Lisanna and him had been brought there after their accident!

Thinking back on it, he was surprise at himself for running straight there without hesitating; he lowered the book down and leaned back as he wondered if this little bit meant that he might be falling in love with Gray, the guy who forcibly pushed himself into his life. He brought his knee up onto the chair only to rest his forehead on top wondering if feeling this way towards a friend was natural or if a guy falling for another guy was even natural?

"Ugggh..." He groaned, all these thoughts were starting to give him a headache; a grip on his shoulder made him jump and cause the book to fall from his hands, landing onto the floor. Igneel stepped forward and picked up the fallen book, "Recognizing the Signs of True Love - For Dummies," handing the book back to his son, "Did something happen while I was away?" He asked crouching down in front of his only child with a soft smile on his tanned face.

"N-not r-really," Although it was clearly obvious that the rosette had just lied; Igneel's smile didn't falter in fact it grew slightly before the older man rose to his feet again and ruffled his son's hair.

"Well if that's the case: I hope you won't mind us having them all over for dinner," Natsu swung around in his seat watching his father's retreating back, "in thanks for taking care of you," He added before he disappeared into the backroom.

It wasn't that he didn't want dinner with Gray's family: it was just that waking up next to Gray this morning was quite a shock and he couldn't remember how the two got into that position! Gray seemed just as surprised as he was. Did Gray also not have any idea how they ended up sleeping together?

-Dragneel Residence-

Gray picked at his jacket sleeve for the umpteenth time while his mother drove them to Natsu's house; needless to say, he was feeling really nervous of seeing the other teen considering they woke up sleeping together! And not only sleeping together but actually waking up with their limbs twisted and turned around the other. It if wasn't for the morning sun waking both of them up, Lyon would have had seen quite a scene! Natsu's head had found its way comfortably onto his chest and his arms wrapped loosely around his lower torso. Their legs had become entangled; the raven had to shake his head quickly to try and cool his head as his mom parked the car. He had just told himself that he would be taking things slower and yet they ended up in such a compromising position!

"Ah! Ur-san! Come in. Come in." Igneel smiled as the whole family entered his Cape Cod home; Gray avoided eye contact and quickly adverted his attention elsewhere.

The parents went straight to work to chatting things up; "You know... its weird... Mom seems to be getting along with Mr. Dragneel awfully quick," Gray's onyx eyes shifted to his sister, "You'd think they already knew each other or something," Ultear added with an annoyed sigh before leaving her brother in the living room.

Gray pushed aside his sister's remark as he began wandering around like a child would; a staircase in the opposite end of the living room perked the raven's curiosity further. He quietly ascended the light oak steps finding himself at the end of a long hallway; he crept down the hall noticing an open door leading to a simple bathroom, which he walked past. The next door he came across was across from another door, he slowly opened the door and one guess clued him in that it was probably Igneel's. He shut the door and went straight to the door across from it: the room was fairly empty and dark; he walked inside cautiously glancing around not sure where the light switch might be. In the dimly-(moonlight)lit room, Gray could vaguely make out a rectangle object beside the window. He picked it up gingerly, realizing it was a picture frame, and squinted to try and make-out what the image was. Suddenly the room was enveloped in light, the raven swung around with the frame still in his hand to see a wide-eyed Natsu behind him!

"What... what are you doing?" Gray looked down, a little embarrassed and it was then that he noticed what the image was: a woman with the same rosy hair as Natsu and light grey eyes. Tanned hands gently pulled the frame away from his pale hands; it was then that the raven noticed his friend's entire body language became soft and gentle.

"This is my mother," a soft smile as he spoke appeared, "She died when I was just a kid so I don't really remember much but I remember she always read me the same book every night," onyx eyes perked up in interest as Natsu continued, "Precious Moments: Bedtime Stories" He added, chuckling a little before he placed the frame back on the small table, where Gray now noticed also had a small vase of fresh daisies on top.

"So are you going to tell me: why you're upstairs?" Natsu pushed his previous question, not really upset but was curious, without turning to face the other.

"I was just wandering around..." It wasn't entirely a lie but it also wasn't the complete truth.

"Follow me," The rosette walked past his friend without glancing at him; he could hear the raven following behind him as he lead him down to the last door, which opened up to-

"Wait, this is your room?" Gray was pretty impressed: bookcases filled with books framed the window on the facing wall; the large king-size mattress adorned with black sheets and comforter with three red-covered pillows; and on the other wall of the room stood a relatively large TV!

"Not as great as your room but it works fo-"

"What are you talking about? Your room is amazing! All your really missing is a game system but hell with all these books," stepping closer, "I wouldn't mind living here as well," Gray chuckled as he browsed through the books.

"I don't think you could handle waking up to..." The rosette's voice went quiet and the raven stopped his browsing; the recollection that they had woken up so close to one another was still fresh in their minds.

Gray swallowed the thick lump in his throat before he broke the silence: "About that," drawing out his words as he turned around to face the other, "I'm sorry," Natsu's eyes widened a fraction, "I couldn't sleep and... uh... l-let's j-just forget about it" After stumbling with a reasonable excuse, the raven left it at asking him to forget it happened. Even though he didn't want him to.

"But..." Natsu began, wanting to bring up the image of Gray hovering over him so close; he was very sure it was real but before he could add on they heard their names: "Natsu! Gray! Come downstairs! Dinner's ready!" from Igneel.

"Coming!" Both boys replied in unison before they headed downstairs without another word.

Dinner was a little awkward for the two teens sitting beside one another; every time they brushed against one another, they quickly pulled away embarrassed. Their antics, luckily, went unnoticed by their everyone at the table; they ate with the constant reminder of waking up together and both of their personal feelings towards the other clouding their minds that they weren't even paying attention to their parents making plans for them!

"Gray, that sounds nice doesn't it?" His mom's voice broke Gray's train of thoughts; the teen looked up confused as he slowly chewed on a piece of chicken from the curry they were having for dinner.

Taking her son's look for one that said he hadn't been paying attention, she repeated the offer: "Igneel offered to let you stay the night in thanks for you taking care of Natsu,"

"Y-Yeah, s-sounds great mom" It wasn't that the raven didn't want to stay here: he did! He was just afraid of what might happen between him and his newly-found crush.

Nervousness was evident of both teen's faces, who went back to eating their dinner without conversing with anyone; Ur and Igneel's conversation seemed never-ending as the parents ignored as their sons shuffled upstairs and Ultear and Lyon started dozing on the couch. Maybe it was their silence at dinner but upon entering his room again, Natsu blurted out: "Gray... I-I can't f-forget," the raven stared wide-eyed at the rosette's back who merely slowly turned around as he added, "I-I," pausing for a second before, "I distinctly remember you-you h-h-hov-vering," he began stumbling over his words and soon his mouth was moving but no words left his mouth.

Not that Gray needed them. He realized that Natsu had really seen him hovering over the other; raven hair swished to the side in act to hide the embarrassment evident of Gray's face. With that simple act, Natsu could only conclude: "That wasn't a dream,"

The sound of actual relief instead of disgust caused onyx eyes flash over to the relieved expression plastered over his friend's entire body; cobalt eyes met onyx ones and the two found themselves unable to turn away.

"So what do we do?" Natsu wondered out loud.

"Dunno," The answer seemed unacceptable to both of them as their eyes took a moment of break before locking back onto the pair across from them.

As if mirroring one another, they walked forward too entranced to pull their eyes away from one another; it wasn't long that they found themselves as close as they were on stage in front of their classmates. Natsu, wondering if the book might be worth checking out again, as his cobalt eyes mirrored Gray's onyx ones that lowered their gaze until butterflies erupted in his stomach from the feeling of having his lips stared at. Any further hesitation was thrown to the wind as the space suddenly disappeared between them and the two found themselves lip-locked. The kiss was different than the one they did at school...

Different than the kiss Gray planted on the sleeping Natsu at the beginning...

This kiss was gentle, as if to push them beyond the point of no return, and pure without any lust desires to push it further; Natsu's quivering hands came up to grip onto Gray's navy-blue jacket sleeve: the kiss was making him feel a little light-headed. Feeling the weight on his shoulder, the raven reluctantly pulled away far enough to separate their lips but still close enough so that their breaths mingled between them.

"Does... this mean-" Natsu still short of breath was cut off when he felt a hand ruffle his hair softly, following by: "Let mean whatever you want it to," Gray's voice showed traces of what he actually wanted to say.

"Gray! I'm leaving! Behave!" Ur's voice broke off any replies from the now flustered rosette, who seemed to only remember now that their parents were downstairs.

"I will! See ya, Mom!" Gray hollered back before standing up and offering a hand to his still friend.

-11:58 pm-

Natsu laid restless in his bed, he glanced over at what he guessed was the sleeping form of the raven a few feet away; maybe it was the kiss that got his brain running in hyper-drive but he soon found himself asking in a low voice: "Gray, let's go somewhere tomorrow..."

No response.

"There's a place I've been wanting to go to," chuckling dryly, "but you know me... too scared to go," He added in a pained whisper as he rolled to his side unaware of the shifting taking place before him.

"Lisanna's grave, huh?" Gray suddenly appeared in front of him, illuminated by the street lamps outside, with a soft smile.

A short nod later, Gray whispered: "I'll go with you..." as he stroked rosy locks in hopes to comfort the other.

The soft snore that followed proved he was successful in his mission; Gray smiled and left a quick peck on the tanned forehead before crawling back onto the spare mattress on the floor.

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Csilla: Did I kill anyone by their actions? Hope not! D:

Thanks Kris for helping me get those two love-struck teens out of their stand-still staring contest~ XD

Well you know what to do~ Leave Reviews so I can munch on them :3

Next Chapter - Lisanna's Grave